The Scottish Government Simplification of Schemes Forming Part of the Common Agricultural Policy

The Scottish Government is set to approve legislation which is aimed to simplify and improve schemes which form part of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Once approved by the Scottish Parliament, the Common Agricultural Policy (Simplifications and Improvements) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 and The Common Agricultural Policy (Less Favoured Area Support) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2020 will come into force on 1 January 2021.

These Regulations and associated legislation form a framework which will allow the Scottish Government to continue to support the agriculture sector through the Common Agricultural Policy following the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020.

In addition to enabling the continuation of support post-Brexit, the legislation is intended to permit the Scottish Government to introduce measures which will allow future support to be tailored to the particular circumstances of the sector in Scotland.

The latest Regulations include measures which are intended to simplify the compliance burden by reducing the number of inspections.  They also enable the continuation of the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme in Scotland and incorporate updates to the Greening scheme for 2021.

The Scottish Government announcement, with links to further information, can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.scot/news/support-for-farmers-and-crofters/

Full details of the schemes and the practicalities of support will become available after these measures have been passed into law.

Photo by Peter Kleinau on Unsplash